SHU’s Phi Alpha Delta offers opportunities

Phi Alpha Delta (PAD) is a professional pre-law fraternity at Seton Hall that offers a variety of opportunities for students planning to attend law school.

Photo courtesy of Janine Dayeh

PAD is the oldest professional fraternity in the world and offers multiple benefits, such as discounts on LSAT and BAR preparation. Members pay a one-time fee of $125 to join. PAD is normally available at the undergrad and graduate levels, in addition to having heavy alumni involvement.

Janine Dayeh, a senior political science major and the president of PAD, said she joined her freshman year after attending a guest speaker event the fraternity was hosting. Dayeh said that all events are open to any Seton Hall student. She encourages any student to get involved because they never know what will happen and the fraternity offers a lot of opportunities and resources.

Dayeh said that there will be a few events that PAD will host this semester, including a mock LSAT. She said that the fraternity will be having a guest speaker coming to speak at SHU, whose name will be announced as the event approaches.

She added that PAD has two initiation ceremonies each semester. The next one will happen in November. “I think the initiations are really powerful because we kind of come together as a fraternity, and we really just go over our core pillar values as a fraternity, and everyone gets to know each other, so I really like the energy and the whole ritual of our initiations,” Dayeh said.

Dayeh explained the process of joining PAD. She said students should email her or club Secretary Alie Jeanpierre. Students will then have to fill out an online application, pay the one-time fee and then they will be ready for the initiation ceremony. Dayeh said the fraternity has an open-member policy, which means that they can’t turn anyone away, and there is no GPA requirement.

Ali Aljera, a junior diplomacy and economics major and the vice president of PAD, said he joined last semester after he attended an event for the free tacos that were being served. When Aljera learned more about the fraternity, he said he thought PAD could be very helpful in achieving his goal to go to law school.

Aljera said the best part of being in the fraternity is having the opportunity to work with others preparing for law school and studying for tests together. He said that all students should join PAD, even if they aren’t completely sure of law school or their career path yet. “It’s better to play on the safe side and prepare yourself in getting all the resources you need to make an important decision, rather than keeping yourself in the dark and having an internal debate on whether you’re gonna do it,” Aljera said.

Jeanpierre, a junior philosophy major, said he joined last semester after attending one of the fraternity’s events. He said he did some research on PAD after attending the event and then emailed the president, at the time. After explaining to him what PAD was all about, Jeanpierre said he knew it was something he wanted to be a part of.

Jeanpierre said he likes being a part of PAD because it keeps him on his toes knowing so many other people are striving for the same things. He added that it helps to have other people that are going through the same things. “The network you make by joining this fraternity is phenomenal, “You can’t miss out on it” he said.